


To Die For

by darkgirl11



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Break down, Crying, Deep Conversations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Frustration, Future Flash, Kidnapping, Loneliness, M/M, Mind Manipulation, OOC Odd, Odd adores Ulrich, Odd can activate or deactivate towers, Odd develops Aelita's ability, Odd doesn't remember anyone, Odd feels like he's going crazy, Odd finally snaps, Odd is kidnapped by XANA, Odd is trapped in Lyoko, Odd just wants his memories back, Odd low key falls in love with Ulrich again, Odd thinks he's a program, Odd vs Lyoko Warriors, Odd's life is low key a series of unfortunate events, Pain, Program!Odd, Relationship Goals, Reunions, Romantic Friendship, Swearing, Temporary Amnesia, Ulrich adores Odd, Ulrich comes to visit him, Ulrich x Odd, UxO, XANA is in Odd's head, XANA manipulates Odd, emotional meltdown, shy Odd, super polite Odd, the scyphozoa erases his memories, trance like states
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkgirl11/pseuds/darkgirl11
Summary: XANA is successful in kidnapping Odd and sends him to Lyoko. The warriors arrive in Lyoko just in time to see the Scyphozoa stealing Odd’s memories… but as XANA's plan unfolds, the warriors realize Odd losing his memories wasn't their only problem.
Relationships: Jeremie Belpois & Odd Della Robbia & Yumi Ishiyama & Aelita Schaeffer & Ulrich Stern, Jeremie Belpois/Aelita Schaeffer, Odd Della Robbia & Aelita Schaeffer, Odd Della Robbia & Ulrich Stern, Odd Della Robbia/Ulrich Stern
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	To Die For

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! So, I like to kidnap Odd and put him through hell so I figured why not add him losing his memories in, too? Honestly, it sounds unfortunate for Odd but there are some good things that come from Odd losing his memories, such as a different view of his relationship with Ulrich. 
> 
> So, I just wanted to say that this story was HEAVILY inspired by the song "To Die For" by Sam Smith. Other honorable mentions of inspiration would be songs such as "Look What You Made Me Do" & "Begin Again" by Taylor Swift, "Long Night" by With Confidence, & "Don't Deserve You" by Plumb. There is also a scene from the movie Donnie Darko used, which is where samples from "To Die For" come from.
> 
> I'll be around making edits but I've talked long enough, so I want to thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoy! :)

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Odd!”

The blonde was smiling as he shoveled another piece of bread into his mouth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and then put his elbows on the cafeteria table. Yumi had a smirk on her face as she watched him hold his face in his hands. He had a dreamy look on his face as he stared at his lover across the room.

Jeremie and Aelita were looking at each other in confusion. Odd was acting more infatuated with Ulrich than usual today. Jeremie tilted his head as he asked, “Hey, Odd, are you gonna tell us what’s gotten into you today? You’re starting to make me worry… is it Valentine’s Day or something?”

“It’s always Valentine’s Day with Ulrich.”

“What did he do this time?”

“He left me a note on my bed this morning.”

“Well, what did it say?”

Odd let out a lovesick sigh. He was watching Ulrich as he recited the note by heart, “My love, allow for me to truly appreciate you and all that you are. You’ve been in my head for so long, so let me get in yours, if only for a moment. Meet me in the greenhouse after classes, where even the flowers can’t stand against your beauty. With all my love, Ulrich.”

“Are you sure that’s from Ulrich?”

The blonde immediately lost his lovesick mood when he heard Jeremie’s question. He glared daggers at his friend, who held up his hands, as if to say “don’t shoot.” Aelita had a nervous smile on her face as she tried to keep the peace, “I’m sure what Jeremie meant to say was that sounds very articulate for Ulrich! It sounds like he put a lot of time and effort into that note, right, Jeremie?”  
  


Aelita had a stern look on her face that dared Jeremie to go against what she had said. The only thing worse than an angry Odd was an angry Odd _and_ an angry Aelita. Yumi gave a concerned look to her friend and nodded for him to just agree with the pinkette if he wanted to live. Jeremie let out a long sigh before he nodded.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant to say.”

“Oh, well, why didn’t you say so!”

Everyone released a relieved sigh in unison. They all would’ve much rather had a lovesick Odd than an angry one. Odd looked at the clock and groaned, he had class in a couple minutes. He blushed when he saw Ulrich walking towards the table. He stood up as Ulrich sat down, sending him a smile as he left his friends.

“I’ll see you later, Ulrich.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later, Odd!”

Ulrich was confused when he saw his friends smiling at him like they knew a secret that he didn’t know about. He cocked an eyebrow at his friends, “So, are you guys going to tell me why you’re all looking at me like that? You’re starting to freak me out.”

“You’re really good to Odd, you know that?”

“Uh, thanks, Yumi. I try.”

Well, that was strange. He carried on eating his food, not missing how his friends were still smiling and looking at him like they knew something. He tried not to let it bother him. One by one, his friends started to leave to go to their classes. When they were gone, the brunette shook his head.

“They’re sure acting weird today.”

* * *

Odd could hardly contain his excitement as he stared at the clock in his last class. Everyone who had seen him today was starting to worry about how he couldn’t sit still or stay focused during conversations. People were starting to go to the teachers after classes to tell them that they thought Odd might have ADHD.

When the bell rang, Odd raced out of the room before the teacher could ask him to stay behind to talk to him. Odd was practically skipping to the greenhouse. He couldn’t contain the grin that was etching on his face as he entered. He was staring in awe at all the flowers that were blooming. He leaned in and smelled one of the roses.

He leaned back to appreciate the view. He loved how the sun was shining through the clear roof. The rays of sunlight looked absolutely stunning as they reflected off the green leaves and the colorful flowers. Odd was getting so many thoughts in his head telling him he would have to come back to draw the flowers like this but he shoved them away when he heard someone moving in the greenhouse.

“Ulrich? Is that you?”  
  


There was no response.

Odd gulped, he was starting to get a little nervous. Ulrich would’ve made his presence known from the start. Odd was starting to get the feeling that Ulrich wasn’t in the greenhouse with him. He slowly started to back towards the door to make his escape but something shot out at him, causing him to dive out of the way. He scrambled to his feet and gasped as he saw what attacked him.

It was a vine from one of the plants from the Amazon jungle that the school brought back from a retreat. The vines weren’t that large but he was sure getting struck by one of those would be lethal. Odd jumped out of the way of another attack. He grit his teeth, wishing that he was in Lyoko so he could fire some laser arrows at the plant.

He saw out of the corner of his eye that the vine was moving away from the door. It was right when the vine went to attack him that he dove towards the door. He opened it and was about to scream for help when he felt a vine wrap around his middle. He was yanked back inside the greenhouse. The door slammed shut and that’s when he opened his mouth to scream, only to find a red rose stuffed in his mouth.

Odd was struggling against the vine but without some heavy duty clippers there was no way he was going to get free. His cries were muffled by the flower as he was brought to the back of the greenhouse to see his captor. His eyes widened when he saw there was a plant like monster with a XANA logo embedded in the chest of the creature.

He continued to squirm around in XANA’s grasp as he was taken from the greenhouse. Odd had no idea why XANA had lured him into the greenhouse but he figured he was being used as a bargaining chip to get Aelita to go to Lyoko or something. He tried to make this kidnapping as hard as possible for XANA as he thrashed around on their way to the manhole cover.

As Odd was being lowered down into the sewer, he managed to grab onto one of the ladder rungs. He succeeded in slowing XANA down, seeing as how the plant monster had to pry him off the ladder. He made a noise that sounded like a gasp when he was forced to let go, causing him to be shot back against the hard concrete wall. His eyes were going in and out of focus as he was lowered into the sewer.

He managed to spit the rose out of his mouth but he felt too tired to cheer about it. That hit from the concrete forced him out of commission. He was limp in the vine as XANA made his way into the supercomputer. Odd’s vision was blurry but he could’ve sworn he saw XANA fiddling with the keyboard.

The plant creature moved towards the elevator. Odd cried out in pain when his back made contact with one of the pods. The doors to the pod opened, causing the blonde to fall back into it. He could feel the vines stuffing his limbs inside the pod before the plant creature fell apart. Odd struggled to get on his feet but it was too late. The pod had closed and XANA had activated it. He quickly pulled out his phone and sent a quick “SOS” text to Ulrich before he was virtualized.

Odd landed on all fours when he was virtualized. He looked around at his surroundings. XANA had dropped him off in the ice sector for some reason. He wasn’t sure why he was here until he backed into something. He turned around and gasped. He tried to run away, but it was too late. He was grabbed and forced to stare at the monster.

“This has got to be the worst date I’ve ever been on!”

* * *

Ulrich was just getting back to his room when he heard his phone ring. He was surprised that Odd wasn’t taking a nap like he usually was. He shrugged and placed his backpack on the ground by his closet. He sat down on his bed and took his phone out to see who had texted him. His breath hitched when he saw that he had a message from Odd.

_SOS_

The brunette got back on his feet and hustled down the hall to get to Jeremie’s room. He nearly kicked down the door, loudly interrupting the conversation Jeremie and Aelita were having on his bed. Ulrich was breathing heavily as he struggled to pull his phone out of his pocket to show them Odd’s message.

“Ulrich? Aren’t you supposed to be on a date with Odd?”

“Odd is-wait, what are you talking about?”

“You left him a note? You’re supposed to be with him?”

“Jeremie, what the hell are you talking about?”

Jeremie and Aelita exchanged confused looks, and it seemed Ulrich was just as puzzled as they were. Aelita turned to Ulrich as she answered, “Odd told us that you left him a note on his bed this morning. You wrote him a love letter telling him you wanted him to meet you in the greenhouse after your classes were finished… don’t you remember that?”

Ulrich gave them a look that immediately told them that he had no idea what she was talking about. Ulrich furrowed his brow as he replied, “Aelita, I forgot Valentine’s Day last year and I wrote Odd the _worst_ poem anyone had ever written. There’s no way I would write a love letter without one of you guys helping me.”

“If you didn’t send that note to Odd-”

“It must’ve been XANA!”

“We’ve got to get to the greenhouse, fast!”

“I’ll call Yumi!”

The three friends sprinted to the greenhouse, catching up with Yumi along the way. They crashed through the doors and were surprised with the sight before them. The greenhouse was a mess. There were broken pots scattered on the floor, as well as soil thrown all over the place. There were cracks in the walls and windows, as if a battle had taken place within the greenhouse.

They looked up when they saw that the back door to the greenhouse was slamming against the back from the wind. They ran towards the back door and noticed that there was a strange trail of grass. They followed the trail and their blood ran cold when they found where it led to. The grass stopped at the open manhole cover they used to travel to the factory.

The four of them shared horrified looks as they realized XANA had kidnapped Odd and taken him back to Lyoko. They didn’t know what XANA wanted Odd for but they knew he would pay for taking their friend. They quickly made their way down the ladder and grabbed their skateboards and scooters.

Ulrich felt rage bubbling in him when he saw that XANA had went the extra mile and broke Odd’s skateboard in half. It was like XANA was trying to taunt them. Ulrich couldn’t believe that XANA had used his relationship with Odd against them. He couldn’t believe that XANA would stoop that low, but he was going to pay for it.

Once they arrived, Jeremie ran to the computer to virtualize the three of them. The three friends wasted no time in hopping into the pods. They each closed their eyes as they were virtualized and brought into Lyoko. Jeremie had managed to find Odd’s location and was successful in transporting the three of them in the ice sector. The trio landed on the ground and screamed in horror at the sight before them.

Odd was floating in the Scyphozoa’s grasp as three tentacles surrounded his head. The blonde was limp in the monster’s clutches and his eyes held a blank look in them. They noticed that the color of the pulsations coming from the tentacles wasn’t the usual orange one. Instead, the pulsations coming from Odd were purple. They didn’t know what the change in color meant but they were sure it wasn’t anything good.

“Let go of him!”

Yumi was furious that her friend was in this situation. She ran forward and whipped her fans at the creature’s tentacles, successfully freeing Odd from its grasp. Ulrich used his super speed to dive forward to grab his lover. Ulrich finally felt like he was able to breathe when he had Odd back in his arms. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Yumi and Aelita had just finished destroying the Scyphozoa.

Odd started to stir in Ulrich’s arms. Yumi and Aelita ran over just in time to see Ulrich place Odd back on his feet. The blonde rubbed his head for a moment before he looked around. Ulrich couldn’t contain his smile. He finally had his lover back, safe and sound.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Odd.”

“Odd? Is that my name?”

“Wh-what?”

Ulrich nervously laughed at the blonde. He was really hoping this was Odd trying to be funny. He laughed again before saying, “Uh, yeah, that’s your name. I don’t know how long the Scyphozoa had you but you’re safe now, okay? XANA won’t hurt you now that we’re here in Lyoko.”

“XANA? What are you talking about?”

“The monster that took you…”

“I’m… I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Yes, you do!”

Ulrich was about to grab Odd’s shoulders to shake him when Yumi stepped forward and pulled him away. She had a hard look in her eyes as she whispered to him, “Cut it out, Ulrich! XANA must have done something to him when he was with the Scyphozoa. You can’t go around yelling at him or you might scare him off. I’m worried, too, but we can’t let our emotions get the better of us.”

He wanted to argue with her but he knew she was right. Aelita walked towards Odd. She was trying to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary with his physical appearance but there was nothing. He looked completely normal. They had to channel their inner Scooby Doo and get to the bottom of this mystery.

“Odd, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Odd looked like he was thinking. A few minutes later, he answered with a smile, “The last thing I remember was cut off for some reason. I suppose my name is Odd, since that’s what you all are referring to me as. I am a program here on Lyoko. I was being debriefed on who my creator was and what all my objectives were when they suddenly disappeared. The next thing I know this nice program over here with the sword was putting me back on my feet.”

“Odd… you think you’re a program?”

“That’s what my creator told me.”

“You said you have objectives… what are they?”

“Wait, are you my creators?”

Aelita looked back at her friends, sharing a concerned look with them. She shifted her attention back to Odd as she replied, “No, Odd, we aren’t your creators. We’re actually humans from outside of Lyoko, just like you. We’re your allies… your friends.”

Odd shook his head at her. His smile was no longer present on his face as he disagreed, “There must be a glitch in my programming because I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said that I was human, but that cannot be. Everything I have stored in my memory banks indicate that I am a program designed to enter way towers and…”

He paused, causing the others to stare at him. He blinked a few times before stating, “Forgive me, but I am unsure of what I was supposed to do in the towers. Whoever created me was cut off so I am uncertain as to what my purpose is. You have said that you three are my allies… would you be able to help me get my memories back?”

The trio let out a relieved sigh. All three of them nodded as Aelita returned, “Yes, Odd, we can help you get your memories back. We have a friend back in the real world who can also be of assistance. If you hold still our friend, Jeremie, will be able to run a scan on you to see what your abilities are.”

He nodded and stood still. What Aelita said was true for the most part. Jeremie did want to scan Odd to make sure he was alright and that his abilities remained the same, but he also wanted to see if XANA somehow altered Odd’s programming. It seemed like XANA wanted to use Odd as a pawn and send him into the way towers to destroy the earth, but he had to be sure.

“Scan complete!”

“Where did that voice come from?”

“Oh, that’s just me! Hi, I’m Jeremie!”

“Oh, hello! What did you find on the scan, Jeremie?”

Odd looked around, trying to locate Jeremie’s voice as he explained, “It seems that Odd still has all his old abilities. He has his laser arrows and Future Flash… but, it seems that XANA has altered Odd’s code so that he can’t come back to the real world. There’s some sort of bug in his system, but I should be able to fix that. Technically, Odd is a program on Lyoko with the ability to not only deactivate towers, but also activate them.”

Everyone but Odd was horrified. It seemed that Jeremie’s theory was right, XANA wanted to use Odd to activate towers for him. He erased Odd’s memories and wanted to use that against him. XANA was going to utilize Odd to do the dirty work while also trying to bring down the Lyoko warriors’ morale by using one of their own friends, and lover.

“Should I be activating or deactivating the towers?”

“You should _always_ deactivate the towers, Odd.”

“Can these towers help me get my memories back?”

Jeremie sighed at that question. He needed more information, but he did have an idea, “Your memories probably won’t be in a deactivated tower. We’ll have to wait for XANA to activate a tower. We can send Odd in the activated tower to shut it down. While he’s in the tower, there might be a chance he can use the screen to search for his memories. Since XANA activated the tower there’s a chance that he’ll be storing Odd’s memories in them. I’ll start working on how to materialize Odd in the meantime.”

Everyone nodded, but the trio seemed uneasy. They knew it was a long shot but it was all they had. Odd looked at the three warriors before smiling, “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch any of your names. You all seem so familiar but I can’t put a name to the face.”

They got a sense of comfort knowing Odd thought they were familiar. Aelita smiled as she introduced her friends, “My name is Aelita. I can show you how to deactivate the towers. This is Yumi to my right and to my left is Ulrich. We call ourselves the Lyoko warriors.”

Odd stepped around Aelita and slowly made his way over to Ulrich. He tilted his head and squinted, almost as if he was trying to remember who Ulrich was. Odd moved so that he and Ulrich were a mere foot apart. The brunette gulped, resisting the urge to bring Odd into his arms for a long embrace.

“You… you look so familiar for some reason.”

“You could say we’re pretty close.”

Odd was beaming when he heard those words. It made him feel happy to know that he had a close friendship with someone. He was about to ask Ulrich a question but a laser shot in between them, causing Odd to stumble backwards. Ulrich unsheathed his sword at the same time Yumi pulled her fans out. There were three krab monsters making their way towards them.

Odd was trembling in fear as the monsters continued to shoot at him and his newfound friends. He stepped back, tripping over a piece of ice and falling to the ground. He was hyperventilating when he saw Yumi and Ulrich running at the krabs, slashing at them with their weapons to keep them at bay. He could hear a voice but his vision was getting blurry.

“Odd! Odd, get up! We have to move!”

The blonde couldn’t will himself to get on his feet. He felt like he was going through the motions as Aelita yanked him off the ground. She held his hand and took off running towards a way tower. Odd had no idea where he was going or what was happening behind him, but he had to trust Aelita.

The pinkette dragged him towards a tower. She stopped, allowing both of them to catch their breath. Odd looked up at the tower, feeling an urge to go inside of it. He didn’t wait for Aelita as he walked forward and phased through the wall. He felt like he was in a trance with the way his feet carried him to the middle of the circular platform. Aelita phased through the tower just in time to see Odd being lifted to the platform above him.

“Odd!”

She ran to the middle of the circle, but she didn’t get lifted to follow Odd. She was freaking out inside. She was wondering if Odd had been lying the entire time. She was starting to think that maybe Odd knew exactly what he was supposed to do in the towers. Maybe Odd was supposed to earn their trust so they would guide him to each tower so he could activate them or make the ones that were already activated even stronger.

“Jeremie, I’m afraid Odd has gone rogue!”

“What?!”

“He’s up there all alone with the scanner! I can’t get to him!”

“This isn’t good! We’ve got to tell the others!”

Aelita nodded and ran out of the tower. She activated her energy fields and shot at the krabs, aiding Yumi and Ulrich in destroying them. Once the krabs were defeated, the two warriors ran over to the pinkette. They were about to thank her for the help but they froze when they saw the look of terror on her face.

“Aelita? What’s wrong? Where’s Odd?”

She looked like she was on the brink of tears. She held herself as she cried, “I’m afraid that Odd went in the tower by himself and he’s up there on the scanner! I can’t get up there so I don’t know what he’s doing… I’m afraid that he may have been under XANA’s control from the very beginning! The way he just walked into the center… it was like he knew what he was doing!”

“Aelita, what are you talking about?”

“Ulrich-“

“The tower is deactivated, look!”

Aelita turned around and gasped as she saw that the tower had changed from red to blue. The trio watched as Odd phased through the tower. He was smiling as he waved to the three of them. Aelita gave a nervous wave in return while Yumi and Ulrich rushed to him. Aelita had no idea what just happened. She shook her head as she trailed close behind her friends.

There was a glimmer of hope in Odd’s eyes as he beamed, “I found some of my memories in the scanner! They weren’t much but I saw that there really is a world out there beyond Lyoko and… and I was a part of it! I saw myself getting stuffed into a pod and then I came here to Lyoko! I’m not sure why I was being forced in the pod, but still! I was out there!”

“That’s great, Odd!”

“But then, how did I become a program?”

The three friends sighed, they were so close yet so far. Odd still had some questions, but so did Aelita, “Odd, how did you know how to deactivate the tower? What code did you use when you were working on the scanner?”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he answered, “Well, it felt like something was beckoning me so it was like my legs were moving of their own accord. It felt like I was supposed to be there so I just let the tower lift me up. When I got to the scanner I had this overwhelming desire to type in XANA…”

Everyone watched Odd intently as he removed his hand from the back of his neck. He sounded confused as he continued, “It felt like I should’ve typed XANA. Everything in my coding was screaming XANA, but… but there was this voice in the back of my head yelling even louder… it told me to type in Lyoko and the next thing I knew the tower had been deactivated and my memories were on the screen. There must be a glitch or some sort of bug in my code because-“

“No, Odd, you did the right thing.”

“Then… why does it feel wrong?”

Odd was holding his head as he whined, “I should’ve typed in XANA but something in me told me to enter Lyoko. I don’t… I don’t understand. I feel like my mind is splitting in half and I’m afraid… I’m afraid that I’m losing what little bit of me I have left.”

This was definitely concerning. It seemed that Odd did have orders from XANA to activate the towers and enter XANA’s code, but it also seemed that there was still a sliver of Odd’s consciousness still intact. There was still a little piece of the real Odd that was fighting against XANA from within.

Ulrich walked over and placed a hand on Odd’s shoulder, causing the blonde to gasp and look into his eyes. Ulrich smiled as he promised, “I know you don’t understand what’s going on, but we’re here to help you find yourself. I need you to do something for me, Odd. I need you to stay in the deactivated tower until we can come guide you to another activated tower.”

“Why do I need to stay in the tower?”

“If you lose all your life points… you might not come back.”

The blonde gasped at the thought of disappearing for good. His eyes were wide with fear as he countered, “But I’m a program, I’m supposed to always come back! I’m not human anymore so I should come back after my life points are lost… right?”

Odd was desperate for Ulrich to provide a sense of comfort. Ulrich squeezed his shoulder as he said, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll come back if you lose all your life points… but, what I do know is that if you go into the tower you’ll be safe and you’ll regenerate. Just stay inside and we’ll come get you when we need to go to an activated tower.”

Ulrich removed himself from the smaller male and was about to move away when Odd launched himself at him. Odd had his arms wrapped around Ulrich’s neck, which surprised everyone. Aelita and Yumi were biting their lips to stop themselves from grinning ear to ear. This was progress towards getting back the Odd they knew.

The blonde felt himself settling against the other male. Ulrich slowly wrapped his arms around Odd’s waist, trying to bring him as close to his body as possible. It felt like it was too long since he had held Odd like this. He tried to remember how it felt to have Odd like this in his arms before he left to go back to the real world without him.

Odd gripped the back of Ulrich’s clothes. His voice cracked every now and then as he whispered, “I’m sorry… I don’t know what’s wrong with me but… but, somehow this feels right. I can’t explain it but something in my coding keeps telling me that I can trust you.”

“Don’t worry, Odd, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

* * *

Ulrich normally wasn’t an impatient person, but he was today. He usually only got impatient when he was worried about Odd. He couldn’t wait to get out of his classes so that he could be reunited with his lover, who didn’t know he was his lover. Ulrich felt weird thinking about that, how Odd had no idea just how important he was to him.

The brunette was tapping his pencil against his notebook. The closer the clock got to ringing, the faster he would tap his pencil. Most of his classmates were getting annoyed with him by now, but he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was getting out of class and going to Lyoko to see Odd. Ulrich felt like he had his super speed when he raced out of the class when the bell rang.

He ran through the school and hopped down into the sewer. He snatched his skateboard from the wall and took off. He was surprised to see that Jeremie was sitting in his chair in front of the computer. The blonde shot his friend a warm smile.

“You’re not the only one worried about him, you know.”

“Thanks, Jeremie.”

Ulrich hustled down the ladder and quickly made his way into a pod. He was panting by the time the doors to the pod closed. He didn’t realize just how fast he was trying to move to get to Lyoko. He took a deep breath to calm himself as he was virtualized. He dropped to the ground in the ice sector. He looked around, searching for Odd’s tower. Once he found it, he used his super speed and dashed to his lover.

The brunette was surprised to see Odd stepping out of the tower. He had the biggest smile on his face as he waved to his friend. Ulrich slid to a stop before bowing to the purple cat, which earned him a laugh.

“It’s good to see you, Ulrich.”

“Likewise, Odd. You’re looking good.”

Ulrich and Odd blinked a few times, both of them trying to register that the brunette had just flirted with him. Odd giggled and playfully returned, “Yes, I did some updates to my coding so suppose my pixels are fashioned better today! My wire frame is spot on, as well! So, yes, I am indeed looking good!”

It felt good to hear Odd making jokes, even if they were absolutely terrible. Ulrich couldn’t help but laugh along with the smaller male. His sense of humor was nothing like the real Odd’s but it was good to hear him having fun, regardless.

“How come you came out of the tower?”

Ulrich could’ve sworn that Odd was blushing as he rubbed his left elbow. He was avoiding Ulrich’s gaze as he confessed, “Well, I was running a scan of this sector and I saw that someone had virtualized here and I was hoping it was you so I… I had to see for myself if you came back.”

The brunette thought it was absolutely adorable how nervous Odd was getting. It was like he was staring at Odd when they first confessed their feelings. Odd was never known to be shy when he was around other people, but when he was around Ulrich it was easy for him to get flustered. It seemed that was still true, even though he didn’t know he was dating Ulrich.

Soon enough, Odd and Ulrich found themselves sitting down on a ledge by the tower. Their feet were dangling off the cliff with Odd was kicking his feet every now and then. Ulrich and Odd stared out at the virtual sea below them, letting out content sighs. It was times like this in Lyoko that Ulrich liked the most. No monsters, no trouble, no screaming, just peace and quiet.

“Ulrich, do you have someone precious to you?”

That question caught Ulrich off guard. He desperately wanted to tell Odd that he was precious to him, but he knew that would only confuse him more. Ulrich was worried that if he told Odd they were lovers that the blonde would go off on his own to an activated tower to try to shut it down all by himself, just so he could try to regain memories of their relationship to see if Ulrich was telling the truth.

Ulrich could hear Jeremie in his ear, encouraging him to talk about Odd… to Odd. It sounded ridiculous at first, but Ulrich did it anyways, “Uh, yeah… yeah, I’ve got someone precious to me. He’s… he’s the center of my life, really. He’s the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen, but it’s not just how he looks that makes him beautiful… it’s what’s on the inside, too.”

“Will you tell me more about him, Ulrich?”

Jeremie was smiling as he listened to the conversation. Ulrich was looking right at Odd as he talked about him, “He’s got such a big heart. He’s always looking out for everyone else. He would rather make sure everyone else is good before he even thinks about himself. He’s the kind of guy who would walk through hell for you, and he’d do it with a smile.”

Odd lifted his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees. He had a smile on his face as he pressed his cheek to his legs. He loved hearing Ulrich talk about his lover, “He’s incredibly loud but you’d never guess that he was the smallest in the room! You know, sometimes it’s the smallest people who are actually the ones that are larger than life… and that’s him.”

Jeremie was in awe. He had no idea this was how Ulrich thought about Odd, “I know I’m not easy, but he takes me as I am. He gives me more love than I’ve ever had and he makes me feel special even when I know I’m not. He’s so complicated but… he makes love seem so easy.”

The blonde moved his head so he was staring out at the virtual sea. Hearing Ulrich talk about his lover made him feel happy. It made him think about how it would feel to love someone as passionately as Ulrich loved his partner. It made him wonder about what it felt like to be loved by another.

“Do you think I’ll find someone one day?”

“Odd…”

“I’ve been doing a lot of research on humans.”

Odd wrapped his arms around his knees tighter. He had this look in his eyes that Ulrich had never seen before. He sounded lost as he continued, “I have found research that says humans believe that every living creature dies alone…”

“How did that make you feel?”

The blonde wouldn’t look at Ulrich. He shrugged and tried to make sense of his emotions, “I… I don’t really know how it made me feel. I was confused. I… I was once human so I’m wondering if I held the same belief… but, I guess sometimes I feel… alone.”

Ulrich scooted closer to the blonde but Odd didn’t even notice. He seemed so lost in his thoughts. The brunette knew he could clear everything up for Odd by telling him the truth. Yet, there was still the thought in the back of his mind that Odd would go to an activated tower on his own to try to validate what he said. He couldn’t lose Odd so he had to go along with this.

“Do you feel alone right now?”

Odd let out a sad laugh. He shook his head before he answered bitterly, “I mean, I’d like to believe that I’m not. I just… I’ve never seen any proof and I don’t remember anything. You know, it’s like I could spend my whole life debating it over and over again, weighing the pros and cons, and in the end I still wouldn’t have any proof because I have _nothing._ So, I just… I just don’t want to debate it… it’s absurd.”

“The search for the truth is absurd?”

“It is, if everyone dies alone.”

“Does that scare you?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

The brunette finally wrapped an arm around Odd, pulling him into his side. It pained him to know that Odd felt that he was alone, especially because he had no memories of who he was supposed to be or who he had in his life. He could have Ulrich talk about who he was all he wanted but they both knew he would feel like he had to live up to those expectations of who he was supposed to be.

Odd felt something fall down his face. He reached a hand to his cheek and gasped. It looked like he was crying but the strange liquid seemed to disappear into pixels before he could ask Ulrich what was going on. He shook his head and nuzzled into the brunette. Part of him felt bad for being this close to Ulrich, knowing that he had someone to love. Yet, another part of him needed this moment, this comfort.

The blonde couldn’t help but feel safe with Ulrich. He looked up at the other male with a small smile on his face. He asked softly, “I didn’t let you answer my question before… do you think that I’ll find someone one day, Ulrich?”

“Everyone eventually finds somebody they’d die for.”

“Dying is easy, Ulrich…”

Ulrich turned so that they were looking at each other. This was a rare moment he was experiencing with Odd. They normally didn’t have deep conversations like these ones, but they were his favorite. Odd was someone who could come across as childlike but behind closed doors, Ulrich thought he was like a philosopher with the way he spoke. Odd kept that small smile on his face but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“Living is harder.”

* * *

It wasn’t until a few days later that XANA activated a tower in the forest sector. Odd was already there hiding behind a tree until the Lyoko warriors could be virtualized. He was beaming when he saw that Ulrich had virtualized first. He didn’t understand why he always felt happier to see Ulrich than the others. There was a lot he still didn’t understand but he was hopeful that deactivating the tower would give him more of his memories.

Yumi and Aelita virtualized shortly after Ulrich. The team assembled by Odd and glared at the monsters. There were three blocks and two hornets. As Odd stared at the creatures, he couldn’t understand why he felt a desire to move towards them. He was struggling to breathe as he willed himself to stand still. He thought that no one had noticed him fighting with himself, but Ulrich had noticed. Ulrich noticed everything about him.

“Odd, are you alright?”

“I believe so… there must be a glitch in my coding.”

Ulrich believed his lie. Odd knew there was no error in his coding. He ran scans on himself every day in the tower and nothing came up each time. The scans indicated that he was functioning above average and that he hadn’t experienced a bug or a glitch in his coding. Odd didn’t want to burden Ulrich or the others. He assumed that this wasn’t something to be worried about.

He watched as his three friends ran out to begin their assault on the monsters. Odd poked head around the tree to scout out for an opening to the tower. He gasped as he saw one of the blocks in his way was destroyed. He moved from behind the tree and took off running to the tower. It was right when he was crossing a bridge made out of fallen trees that he felt the air leaving his virtual lungs. Odd dropped to his knees, immobilized by whatever was taking over his system.

And then, he saw it.

It felt like he had tunnel vision with the way he could only see what was being presented to him. There was a black and white scene playing out. Odd saw himself running to the tower. He was about to enter the tower when he was ambushed by krabs from both sides. It seemed that there was a surprise attack waiting for him by the tower.

When the vision left, Odd fell on his hands. He was breathing heavily as he tried to figure out what just happened. He quickly went through his memory banks and recalled a memory where he was told that he had an ability called Future Flash. He was sifting through various memories of when he tried to understand what that ability entailed. He remembered that his ability gave him images from the future that he could change depending on how he acted in the present.

“Odd!”

The blonde could hear someone running towards him. He struggled to get to his feet but he smiled when he felt Ulrich helping him up. Odd looked to Ulrich and then back to the tower as he said quickly, “I don’t have much time to explain but I need to you to come with me to the tower. I’ve seen a psychic vision of the future and I have monsters waiting for me down there.”

“A sneak attack, huh?”

“It appears XANA doesn’t want me interfering.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!”

He nodded back to Ulrich and took off running to the tower. The two males were getting close when the krab monsters came out from behind the tower. One of the krabs moved to stab at Odd but it was blocked by a clone of Ulrich. As Ulrich and his clones handled the krabs, Odd made a break for the tower.

He let out a slightly exaggerated exhale as he felt himself phasing through the wall of the tower. He was walking towards the center of the circle when he felt pain rack his body. He fell to the ground and grabbed his head, shaking it as he tried to force the pain away. When the pain finally subsided he stumbled into the center. It was when he was lifted in front of the scanner that the pain returned to him.

Odd fell to his knees, screaming at the top of his virtual lungs. He felt tears prick at his eyes as he heard a dark voice echoing in his mind. He was trembling as the voice started to get louder, as if it refused to be ignored. Odd didn’t know what was going on with him. He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself from crying. It felt like his mind was tearing itself apart.

“Get out… get out, get out, get out!”  
  


_‘You belong to me… you live to serve me.’_

“I… I don’t even know who I am…”

_‘You are mine… just you wait… I will have you.’_

Odd collapsed on the ground like a crumpled piece of paper when the pain disappeared. He staggered as he brought himself to his feet. He had to help his friends. He pressed his paw-like hand on the scanner and entered the code to shut down the tower. He backed away from the scanner and watched as the lights around him fell into the abyss below.

It was right when Odd thought he might have been hallucinating that the voice returned to him. He clutched his head as the voice growled, _‘did you think I would just leave you alone with them? You don’t belong to them. You were supposed to live to serve me. You were supposed to be my weapon, don’t forget that… you are mine!’_

“Stop! Leave me alone!”

“Odd, what’s wrong?!”

Odd looked up and that’s when he saw Ulrich standing before him. His eyes were wide with worry as he approached him, “Odd, what’s going on? We heard screaming coming from the tower and we thought something happened to you. Are you alright?”

His eyes were flashing from side to side frantically. Ulrich could tell that something had happened to Odd while he was in the tower but he didn’t know what. He gently removed Odd’s hands from his head and allowed them to hang at his side. Ulrich wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he guided him back to the scanner.

“Hey, why don’t we look for your memories?”

“Y-Yeah… yeah, let’s take a look.”

Odd moved into Ulrich’s side as he typed away at the scanner. His eyes widened when he saw memories appear on the screen. It appeared as though he was looking through someone else’s eyes. He could see Jeremie sitting at a computer looking at Aelita on a screen. There was Ulrich and Yumi there surrounding Jeremie. They were all having a conversation about making a pact. Odd’s eyes widened as he heard Yumi call them the Lyoko warriors.

The memory didn’t last very long but Odd had seen enough. He was at a loss for words. He looked up at Ulrich as he said softly, “I was there… I made a pact with all of you to be a Lyoko warrior and to never show anyone the location of the supercomputer. I… I really was human… but, there’s something I don’t understand.”

“What’s that?”

“Where is your partner?”

“Uh, he was late that day.”

“Am I close with your partner, too?”

Ulrich bit his lip. He desperately wanted to tell Odd that he was his partner. He took one look into those caramel colored eyes and felt himself slipping. He wanted to tell Odd the whole truth but he knew that would’ve been dangerous. Ulrich opted for playfully rubbing Odd’s arm and smiling back at him.

“Closer than you could imagine.”

* * *

Jeremie was feeling rather pleased with himself. He was minutes away from fixing Odd’s coding so that he could materialize him. With each tower Odd deactivated this week he was starting to revert back to his old self. He still had no memories of his relationship with Ulrich but he did remember that they were roommates. He remembered that he was a striving artist with a knack for telling lame jokes and corny puns.

Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi were on their way to the factory. They wanted to be there when Jeremie materialized the blonde. They knew that the path ahead of them to restore Odd’s memories would not be easy, but Odd was worth it. They found that this overly nervous and polite version of Odd was not the same as their dramatic and honest friend.

Odd was grinning when the scanner had shown a notification that something had been virtualized. He had become used to Ulrich being the first one to virtualize so that they could be alone for a moment. Odd would always run into Ulrich’s arms with the biggest smile on his face. He didn’t understand why everything seemed to fall into place when he was with Ulrich, but he knew it was wrong to feel that way.

He knew it was wrong to develop feelings for someone who already loved another. Odd didn’t understand why he wanted to be in Ulrich’s embrace. He didn’t know why he always felt like he was blushing when Ulrich looked at him. He felt like he should be with Ulrich but he knew he couldn’t have him. Odd had never felt so confused before. He tried to keep his distance but he knew he couldn’t stay away from the brunette.

Odd was rushing out of the tower. He was in the ice sector this time but there was no one around. He started to walk away from the tower in hopes that he would find whoever was virtualized. He jumped down a small ledge before it hit him. He felt the air leave his virtual lungs. He knew what was about to happen.

And then, he saw it.

The vision came to him in black and white, as usual. He saw a monster that looked like the product of if a jellyfish and an octopus had a baby. The monster seemed to come out of a cave and grab him. He could see that the tentacles were pointed all around his head. There were pulsations coming from his head and then travelling through the tentacles back to the monster’s clear skull.

He started breathing heavily when the vision was over. He looked around and sighed in relief when he noticed that he wasn’t near any caves. He wondered just how far into the future that vision was. Odd turned to look back at the tower and noticed there was nothing out of the ordinary there. He shrugged, it must have been something farther into the future.

Odd didn’t want to test his luck, though. He jumped to the top of the ledge and started to walk back to the tower. He didn’t see the cave forming from below the ledge, nor did he see the Scyphozoa that emerged from it. As Odd was walking, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching him. He tried to shrug it off but eventually he turned around.

“Jeremie, I’m not alone!”

“Oh no! It’s a Scyphozoa!”

“Jeremie, I need help!”

“Get back to the tower! Help is on the way!”

Odd took off in a mad dash for the tower. He could hear the monster right on his tail making a strange whirring noise. Just as Odd was about to phase through the wall of the tower he felt something wrap around his middle and yank him away. Odd desperately reached for the tower, but it was too late. Odd felt tears pooling in his eyes as he realized his Future Flash had come true. Odd screamed as the tentacles closed in on his head.

As soon as Jeremie told the others that a Scyphozoa was attacking Odd they sprinted into their pods. Once they were virtualized they looked out at the scene playing out in front of them. Odd was in the clutches of the Scyphozoa being drained of a purple substance just like the last time. Yumi was about to throw her fans to free Odd when the most peculiar thing happened next.

The Scyphozoa gently placed Odd on the ground.

No one moved as Odd seemed to regain his composure. He stared up at the Scyphozoa and nodded to it. When Odd shifted his attention to the Lyoko warriors he moved a hand to his left arm. They gasped when they heard the sound of Odd reloading his laser arrows. He pointed his arm at his friends and fired at them.

They dove out of the way of the attacks. They looked up and saw him reloading once more. Jeremie was in their ears calling, “Don’t let those arrows devirtualize you! If I’m correct, those arrows are the same as being hit by slightly lesser versions of the virtual sea! If you lose all your life points you won’t come back!”

“Jeremie, what’s wrong with Odd?!”

“I’m running a scan on him now.”

Everyone avoided another round of laser arrows. Odd was slowly approaching them as Jeremie explained, “It looks like he’s lost nearly all of his memories! I think… I think XANA has reprogrammed Odd’s entire coding… now, Odd truly believes he’s a program that lives to serve XANA and his first order must be to eliminate you guys! You’ve got to find a way to stop him so I can debug him!”

Yumi blocked one of the laser arrows but cried out when another one made contact with her leg. She dropped to one knee and gasped when she saw Odd standing over her. He was pointing his next attack right for her head. A blow like that from point blank would eliminate Yumi for good.

He was about to fire when an energy field was thrown at him, causing him to jump back. Aelita continued to throw energy fields at him until he managed to strike her in the chest. She had never felt pain like this before. The power packed behind those laser arrows was incredible. She looked up and that’s when she saw that Odd was pointing one hand at her and his other was aimed at Yumi. He was going to kill both of them.

The females were terrified at the look in Odd’s eyes. His eyes didn’t have the XANA logo in them like people normally did when they were possessed. His eyes looked dead, like there was no life in his entire being. He didn’t even look like he was conscious. He didn’t smile, nor did he even breathe loudly. It seemed that XANA wanted to eradicate anything that would give Odd a sense of humanity.

“Stop it, Odd! This isn’t you!”

The blonde’s head snapped in the direction of the voice shouting at him. Ulrich had his blade fixed on the other male as he said firmly, “This was never who you were supposed to be. I don’t know what XANA filled in your head but you’re not like this. The Odd I know would never lay a hand on his friends! You need to stop this!”

Odd still had his hands pointed at Yumi and Aelita but his attention was on Ulrich. Odd’s voice didn’t even sound like him as he stated, “I’m sorry, the old Odd can’t come to the conversation right now.”

“Wh-what…”

“Because he’s _dead_.”

Everyone was horrified that Odd had said that the old him was dead. They were wondering if that meant that all traces of the human version of Odd were erased by the Scyphozoa. If that was the case then there would be nothing Jeremie could do to bring him back. This new Odd could look back his old memories all he wanted but if he didn’t have the feelings and desires of the old Odd then there was no hope to have their Odd back.

Ulrich was relieved that Odd decided to turn away from the girls, but he was also nervous now that Odd was walking towards him. The blonde reloaded his laser arrows on both arms as he approached Ulrich.

There was no emotion on Odd’s face as he said simply, “My master has given me a list of names to terminate… and yours is in red, underlined. Once you three are out of the picture then there will be nothing to stop me from making XANA the most powerful being on Earth.”

“I know you can hear me, Odd!”

Odd fired laser arrows at Ulrich, who was able to block each of them. The blonde was standing a couple feet away from him. Ulrich grit his teeth as he ran forward and slashed at his lover. Odd was always the best at avoiding his attacks but Ulrich managed to find a moment of weakness. He let out a battle cry as he kicked Odd into a wall of ice. He ran forward and stabbed at the blonde.

Everyone cried out, as it appeared that Ulrich had impaled his lover. Ulrich and Odd were looking into each other’s eyes. They were both glaring at each other, yet, there was a hint of sadness in the brunette’s eyes. Ulrich’s sword was lodged in the ice in between Odd’s left side and arm. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt the one he loved.

“Why do you hesitate?”

“I could never hurt you, Odd.”

The blonde leaned up so that they were mere inches apart. Ulrich could’ve sworn he saw tears in Odd’s eyes as he hissed, “I’m not your problem anymore so who are you defending? Because it’s not me. I told you Odd is dead. I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Odd grabbed the handle of Ulrich’s sword and jabbed it into the other male’s chest, causing him to let out a grunt of pain. Ulrich managed to snag his sword back from Odd as he moved away to gain some distance. The blonde pointed his hand at him and didn’t falter when he shot at him. Ulrich managed to use his super speed to avoid the attacks. He was going off of the thought that Odd couldn’t hit him if he couldn’t keep up with him.

Ulrich slid to a stop, staring back at the love of his life. He looked so cold and heartless. He was nothing like the Odd he had fallen for. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel like he saw tears in those caramel orbs. Underneath all that anger was pain and sorrow. Ulrich desperately wanted to believe that underneath XANA’s control was the real Odd still trying to fight it.

He had to help the real Odd.

Ulrich took a deep breath. His eyes softened as he said, “I still remember the nights when you’d lie with me… the ones where we’d talk and we’d touch and then we’d fall asleep. I remember I’d wake up and you were in my arms and I’d feel at ease. I know you can remember those nights and mornings, too.”

Odd slowly walked forward, continuing his assault on Ulrich. The brunette dodged his attacks before continuing, “I still have your shirt in my dresser drawer. It’s the one with the purple stripes that you loved in the store. You were so happy when I bought you that shirt. You never wore it to class. You would only wear it in our room because you said you only wanted to experience the happiness the shirt brought you with me. I know you remember that.”

He avoided another set of laser arrows. He felt tears prick at his eyes as he went on, “Odd, you’re the first face that I see in the morning. At the end of the day, it’s always been you I’m thinking about. You are the reason that I’m the person I am today. You give me a reason to keep trying to be better. You’re… you’re what I can’t live without.”

“You’re the only one who can bring me to my knees.”

Everyone but Odd’s eyes widened as Ulrich dropped to his knees. It was a powerful show of emotion to have Ulrich submitting entirely to Odd. The closer Odd came to him, the more visible the tears in his eyes were. Ulrich couldn’t help but feel relieved to know that somewhere deep down inside his Odd was fighting to be let out.

He placed his sword on his lap, further demonstrating his forfeit. Odd continued on his march as Ulrich persisted, “I don’t know how I’m the one you’ve chosen to love. I’ve known from the start that you’re everything I need. I know I walk away when I can’t figure out my emotions but… but, when I walk away you take off running and come right after me… and I can’t help but feel happy because that’s just who you are… and by some miracle, you’ve chosen to be with me.”

Odd was standing in front of him with a hand directed right at his head. Aelita and Yumi were running towards them to try to stop Odd, even though they both knew they wouldn’t make it in time. Their bodies were weak from Odd’s attacks but they knew they would hate themselves for the rest of their lives if they didn’t try to save Ulrich. They couldn’t save Odd but they could try to save Ulrich.

Ulrich and Odd stared into each other’s eyes. A stray tear rolled down Ulrich’s face as he gazed into the caramel eyes he had fallen for so long ago. His voice cracked as he finished, “Odd, I’ve always known that I don’t deserve a love like this. I’ve known from the start that I don’t deserve you… but, you’ve given me more than I could ever imagine so if this is what you want…”

“Then, I’m glad that I get to die at your hand.”

Ulrich bowed his head to his lover. He closed his eyes when he heard the sound of Odd reloading his laser arrows. His hands tightened their grip on the sword, trying to brace himself for impact. He was terrified to die but he did feel some comfort in knowing it was Odd who was going to end him. If anyone was going to kill him, he was fine with it being Odd.

Ulrich flinched when he heard the sound of the laser arrow releasing. He waited for the pain. He waited to be devirtualized for good. He waited for something, _anything_. He opened his eyes and looked up. Odd’s face was expressionless but there were tears streaming down his face like little waterfalls. Odd’s hand was trembling but his aim was off. Ulrich looked to his right and saw a laser arrow lodged in the ice. He shifted his attention back to Odd.

“Odd… is that you?”

The brunette winced when he heard Odd reload once more. He closed his eyes when he heard the sound of the laser arrow being fired. Again, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and gasped at what was happening. Odd had shot at the Scyphozoa behind them. Odd was now running at the monster, shooting at it relentlessly.

Yumi and Aelita rushed to Ulrich, bringing him back to his feet. The trio had no words as they watched Odd pounce on the Scyphozoa with an intensity that they had never seen from him. They noted that as Odd continued his assault, he was still crying. There were tears making endless journeys down his face as he grabbed the tentacles of the monster and squeezed them.

The three friends watched in awe as Odd was able to squeeze the purple essence that was taken from him and return it to himself. When Odd seemed to get every ounce of the purple substance, he tossed the tentacles to the side like they were nothing. This was the first time they saw Odd show emotions.

The warriors watched in terror as rage enveloped Odd’s entire being. He was screaming as he slashed at the Scyphozoa with his claws. It looked like he was finally able to release all the emotions he was feeling when he was a prisoner in his own body. The three friends had never seen such anger and fury from their small friend that it made chills run down their spines.

Odd pointed his hand right at the torn XANA logo. His words were laced with venom as he hissed, “I don’t like the game you tried to play with me, XANA. I know you can hear me so if you _ever_ try to come after me again I will find you and I will _fucking_ destroy you. I’ll tear you apart piece by piece so you can understand the hell you put me through!”

“I _never_ belonged to you and I never will!”

With the final blow to the Scyphozoa, it shattered into pieces. The blonde was breathing heavily as he watched the very creature that tortured him disintegrate. He had so many emotions swirling around inside and he needed to get them out. He felt the urge to kill something else, but he knew that wouldn’t make him feel any better. He fell to his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Odd had never looked so broken before. His friends had never seen him unleash this kind of rage and sadness before. Odd was the one person who was constantly smiling and having fun. He was sassy, no doubt, but he was always happy. Seeing Odd sobbing on the ground as he held himself broke everyone’s hearts. Even Jeremie had to remove his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Ulrich made the first move towards Odd. He carefully stepped to his lover and fell to his knees in front of him. Ulrich didn’t know what to say or what to do in this situation. The amount of times he saw Odd like this was rare. Odd always seemed to pull himself out of it but Ulrich knew he was going to need some help this time around.

“Do you remember who I am, Odd?”

“H-How could I forget you?”

Odd slowly lifted his head so he could make eye contact with Ulrich. The tears were still flowing down his face and being blown away into little pixels as they devirtualized. If Ulrich had taken a quick glance at Odd like this he would’ve immediately thought that Odd was miserable, but the more he examined Odd’s face the more he saw the tinge of happiness in his eyes.

The blonde made no attempt to wipe the tears away. He gave the faintest of smiles as he whispered, “I remember walking in expecting you to be late for our first date, but you got there early. You pulled my chair out and helped me in… and you didn’t even know how nice that was… but, I did.”

Ulrich was in awe. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he heard Odd talk about their first date from his point of view, “And you’d throw your head back laughing like a little kid. I thought it was strange that you thought I was funny because… no one ever did. I thought I didn’t deserve someone like you in my life. I never thought I deserved this kind of love, but… on a Wednesday in a restaurant I started to believe I did.”

The brunette had no words. He reached out and pulled Odd to his chest. Odd wrapped his arms around Ulrich’s neck and gripped the back of his clothes tight. Odd’s body slowly started to rack with sobs. It had been too long since he and Ulrich were this close.

It had felt like a lifetime to him.

Ulrich silent tears falling down his face as he listened to his lover cry, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t remember you. I didn’t know how to get through to you so you’d know I was still in there. I felt like I was never going to have you like this again… I was so scared I was going to lose you, Ulrich… I’m sorry…”

Odd couldn’t help but smile when he pulled away and saw that his lover was crying. The blonde used his paw-like hands to wipe away Ulrich’s tears away. They were both laughing. Leave it to Odd to be the one hurting but he was more concerned with how Ulrich was feeling. Ulrich shook his head at his lover. He felt like he didn’t deserve Odd, but he was grateful to have him.

Yumi and Aelita were walking over just in time to hear them laughing like children. Odd was smiling as he asked his lover, “You know, there was one good thing to come out of this mess… you know what it was?”

“No, what?”

“I got to fall in love with you all over again.”

* * *

Ulrich and his friends were impatiently waiting in the scanner room. Jeremie had figured out how to debug Odd so that he could become human once again. They were all waiting outside the pod that Odd was supposed to be coming in from. Slowly, the doors to the pod opened and Odd was standing there before them with a grin on his face.

He tried to step out but he felt like he had baby deer legs. He gasped as he fell forward, only to be caught by his friends. He couldn’t help but feel happy tears sting at his eyes as his friends brought him to the floor and hugged him. He was overwhelmed by the amount of love his friends were showing him but he absolutely loved it.

He couldn’t deny that it felt good to be human again. He could finally feel his friends’ skin and fully see their range of emotion. Lyoko was fun with all those superpowers but Odd would prefer to see his friends’ emotions any day. He would have to admit that he would miss his tail. He had started to grow accustomed to the tail, but he would never say that out loud.

Eventually, they all got back on their feet. It felt like Heaven when Ulrich wrapped his arms around Odd’s waist and kissed him. Odd’s eyes widened at the contact and then immediately closed. He snaked his arms around Ulrich’s neck so that they would be pressed against each other’s bodies.

They had no shame as they made out in front of their friends, but it seemed that their friends didn’t seem to mind. Yumi was cheering for them, Aelita was clapping, and Jeremie was doing a failed attempt at a wolf whistle. Eventually, Jeremie’s wolf whistle turned into him spitting, which caused Ulrich and Odd to pull away to laugh with their friends.

Odd’s laugh was the loudest in the room. He pressed himself into Ulrich’s side, placing a hand on his lover’s chest as his laugh turned into a cackle. His cackle of a laugh caused the rest of his friends to break out into laughter at him. Odd didn’t care that they were laughing at him. He just cared that he was finally back together with everyone.

He had been through hell in Lyoko, but he was sure he would go back in a heartbeat. But for now, he just enjoyed this time with his friends. He allowed himself to breathe and be in the moment. He remembered how he had told Ulrich that he felt alone when he was in Lyoko. Odd looked around at all the people surrounding him and giving him endless amounts of love. He shook his head and smiled to himself.

He didn’t feel alone anymore, and he never had to again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :) This story was so fun to write because it allowed me to show Ulrich and Odd starting to fall in love with each other all over again, even though Ulrich knows that they're already in love. I also really liked showing Ulrich in a more vulnerable light with him expressing his thoughts and feelings for Odd and then even submitting himself to Odd completely. Making Odd more reserved and polite was a lot of fun too! Well, I'm sure I'll be back with another story soon... sorry for any mistakes! Thank you all for reading! :)
> 
> Stay safe and I hope to catch you all on the flipside! :)


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